Review: HGLRC Zeus F735 and F745 stacks

Zeus F735 and Zeus F745 are the latest mini size stacks from HGLRC company. F735 has F722 mini FC and 35A 4in1 ESC, while the F745 has the same F722 mini FC but the more powerful 45A 4in1 ESC in the stack. Lets take a closer look at these two stacks.

Specifications

HGLRC F722 mini FC

MPU: MPU6000
UARTS:5
CPU: STM32F722 RET6
Input Voltage: 2-6S Lipo battery
Built-in Betaflight OSD 
BEC Output: 5V/3A
BlackBox: 16M
Size: 23.7×26.6mm
Installing Hole: 20X20mm. M2
Weight:3.7g

HGLRC FD35A 4in1 ESC

CPU: STM32F051
Input Voltage: 3-6S Lipo battery
Steady Current: 35A
Peak Current: 40A (10 Sec）
Firmware: BLheli_32
Installing Hole: 20x20mm, M2
Weight: 6.5g

HGLRC FD45A 4in1 ESC

CPU: STM32F051
Input Voltage: 2-6S Lipo battery
Constant Current: 45A-4S / 35A-6S
Peak Current: 55A (5s)
BEC Ouput: NO
Firmware: BLheli_32
Size: 31.7×36.5mm
Installing Hole: 20x20mm, M2
Weight: 10.8g

 

HGLRC Zeus F735

Zeus F735 package contains F722 mini FC, FD35A 4in1 ESC, 1000uF 35V and 220uF 35V capacitors, XT30 pigtail with 18AWG silicon wire, XT60 plug with 14AWG wire, 8pin SH1.0mm connection cable, 25mm long 2mm diameter metal screws and nuts and dampening silicon rubber spacers. There is a 2.54mm pin headers included for direct soldering of the receivers to FC.

HGLRC F722 mini flight controller has F722 MCU with 5 UART ports available. However UART ports 3 and 6 are reserved for VTX control and ESC telemetry respectively, so in reality you have 3 full UART ports available. That’s enough for almost any configuration.

The F722 mini flight controller is covered with conformal coating. This adds some moisture resistance. Flight controller has really big solder pads that makes really easy to solder the wires to them. Most of the pads have vias (small through holes), these help to keep the pads from tearing away when they are overheated while soldering.

F722 mini FC has barometer installed on the board. 

HGLRC F722 mini and FD35 4in1 ESC have 20x20mm pattern M2 diameter mount holes.

Stack includes the FD35 4in1 ESC. The same ESC is used in the HGLRC FD435 stack .

Forward FD35A ESC has arc curved solder pads that are convenient for soldering the ESC wires vertically.

There are SH1.0mm 8pin sockets for connection cable between the FC and ESC. This should make the installation quick and easy.

However the included cable is more than 4cm long and even must be cross twisted thus takes up a lot of space and is challenging to make a clean build.

I wish HGLRC could make this cable only 1,5cm long and make it connect straight forward for the perfect fit. As an example how Diatone does with their stack wires.

The HGLRC F722 mini FC weights only 3.7 grams.

The HGLRC FD35A 4in1 ESC weights 7 grams.

Whole stack weights 14.7 grams including the wires and metal screws.

HGLRC Zeus F745

Zeus F745 package contains F722 mini FC, FD45A 4in1 ESC, 1000uF 35V and 220uF 35V capacitors, XT30 pigtail with 18AWG silicon wire, XT60 plug with 14AWG wire, 8pin SH1.0mm connection cable, 25mm long 2mm diameter metal screws and nuts and dampening silicon rubber spacers. There is a 2.54mm pin headers included for direct soldering of the receivers to FC.

Zeus F745 stack has the same F722 mini FC and the more powerful FD45A 4in1 ESC. The ESC size is 36.5×31.7mm, so it is bigger than usual 20x20mm board. Notice that ESC has double PCB style – the power switching part is on the one PCB and the FET commutation logic part is separated on the second PCB. This allows to make bigger power lines for larger currents and maximizes thermal dissipation.

ESC has two arrays of the ceramic capacitors for the filtering and voltage stabilization. 

However you can notice that FD45 ESC does not have current sensor, so you will need the special XT60 connector with integrated current sensor if you want to have the amp reading on your OSD or Blackbox logs.

The weight of the FD45 4in1 ESC is 10.9 grams. It obviously weights more than 35A version because of the thicker and bigger PCB.

The weight of the complete stack is 18.8 grams including the metal screws, nuts and cable. 

HGLRC Forward FD45 ESC has big motor pads on the top side of the ESC board.

 

Setting up the HGLRC F735 and F745

Both stacks use the same F722 mini flight controller, so the configuration procedures are the same for both stacks.

Port definitions:

UART1 is for receiver input (SBUS, iBUS)
UART2 is free
UART3 is for  VTX Betaflight control
UART4 is free (GPS or other peripherals)
UART6 is for ESC telemetry 

HGLRC F722 mini Flight controller user manual: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/2672/8290/files/F722_mini.pdf

HGLRC F722 mini connection diagram:

If you will need to upgrade firmware, then HGLRC F722 mini FC Betaflight target is HGLRCF722 or HGLRCF722(HGLRC) if using BF higher than 4.0. 

 

Conclusions and final thoughts

HGLRC Zeus F735 and F745 stacks are the combination of the already known and proven FD35A and FD45A 4in1 ESC and the newest HGRC F722 mini flight controller. F722 MCU, used in this FC, ensures that you will have a lot of room for the processing power and the MCU support will not be discontinued in the nearest future (as it was done with F3 MCU and F4 MCU days are going to the end inevitably). HGLRC F722 mini flight controller has no problems with the UART inversion (as F4 MCU has), so you can be sure that any receiver will work with this FC (FrSky, Flysky, TBS Crossfire & others). It even has header pins for direct soldering of the popular XM+ or TBS Crossfire Nano receivers. Flight controller also has big pads for easy soldering, conformal coating for moisture protection. HGLRC managed to fit the Barometer and 16Mb blackbox flash memory into this F722 mini flight controller. 

HGLRC Zeus F735 is the cheapest F7 mini stack on the market and the F745 stack is on sale for only $45.59 plus you’ll get 4pcs of free arm led strips!

HGLRC: 

Zeus F735: https://www.hglrc.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/hglrc-zeus-f735-stack-20×20-2-6s-f722-flight-controller-35a-bl32-4in1-esc

Zeus F745: https://www.hglrc.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/hglrc-zeus-f745-stack-20×20-2-6s-f7-flight-controller-45a-bl32-4in1-esc

Banggood: 

Zeus F735: https://www.banggood.com/search/hglrc-f735.html?from=nav

Zeus F745: https://www.banggood.com/search/hglrc-f745.html?from=nav

Disclaimer: This item was supplied by HGLRC for a fair and unbiased review. HGLRC never asked for a positive review and never influenced my opinion in any way. I’m trying my best to stay uninfluenced and give only my own opinion. All affiliate links if there are any help me purchase items for future reviews and tests.